A Day in the Life of the Dynamic Duo
by Starships and Stopwatches
Summary: EspositoxRyan A girl who works with the supernatural is killed. Castle thinks it's an evil UPS man. Beckett knows there's a logical explanation. And as for Ryan and Espo, they just don't know. Rated T for violence (sort of).
1. Long Night, Early Morning

**AN: Please review! Helpful criticism is always appreciated!**

**Chapter 1: Long Night, Early Morning**

RIIIINNNNNGGGG!

Ryan and Esposito were jolted out of their sleep by the sound of Ryan's cellphone. Esposito groaned and rolled over as Ryan reached for the phone. After looking at the screen for a moment, he said, "It's Beckett."

"Yeah, who else calls at…" Esposito looked at the clock. "5:30 in the morning?" Esposito grumbled as Ryan pressed the speaker button.

"Hey Beckett, what's up?"

"Hey. Is Espo there?"

"Yup."

Ryan moved the phone down closer to the other side of the bed near Esposito who said, "Really, Beckett? Do you even _know _what time it is?" The boys could practically hear Castle smirk over the phone.

"Why are you so cranky? What, did you guys have a late one last night?" Castle teased in his best baby voice. Esposito just smirked back. "Like you and Beckett didn't."

"Boys!" Beckett scolded. "Since you're impossible to talk to in the morning, meet us at the address I text you in thirty minutes."

"Yes ma'am!" Ryan said. With that, both parties hung up. Esposito kept complaining as he and Ryan got ready for the day. In fact, he grumbled all the way from the boy's shared apartment to the crime scene.

"Yo, Beckett!" Esposito called as they got out of the car. They had arrived at a tall, brick apartment complex. Castle and Beckett stood outside of the building, waiting for them. "Hey guys," Beckett greeted. Castle wore a smug grin that seemed to say, _"Heh, you guys totally stayed up last night. Now, how long__?"_

Esposito and Ryan just rolled their eyes and followed Beckett up the stairs.


	2. Ghost Murder

**AN: Thank you to wayouttamyleague for my first review! This chapter is noticeably longer, and there are MANY more to come! And don't worry, there will definitely be more Resposito! Again, please review (helpful criticism is always appreciated)!**

**Chapter 2: Ghost Murder**

"Mary Sanchez, age 36," Beckett informed Ryan and Esposito. It was evident that she and Castle had been there a while before them. "Cause of death?" Esposito asked. "Unknown. Not a mark on the body, no signs of struggle, nothing." Lanie's voice seemed to come out of nowhere rom behind the group, causing all four of them to jump. Lanie walked up to them. "The vic was actually a supernatural investigator. Creepy, right?" Castle said. "Think about this: she started meddling was a ghost's earthly materials, maybe… maybe she went into a haunted house or something to do some kick-butt Ghostbusters reenactment Then, she started going through some of the ghost's stuff. The ghost got P.O.'d, followed her back to her apartment and… BOOM! GHOST MURDER!" Everyone jumped a second time at Castle's sudden outburst. Castle stood before them, arms out, as if waiting for applause. As usual, everyone just shook their head and went back to work.

"Who found her?" Ryan asked. "Her roommate, Sally Lincoln, at around 8 o'clock last night." Beckett answered. Esposito and Ryan walked over to the body to take a closer look at it. "Did you talk to Lincoln?" Beckett shook her head and replied, "She wasn't ready to talk yet. We'll bring her in after we find out a little bit more about the vic. Let's head back to the precinct and check her credit card records."

After getting back to the precinct, they ran the vic's credit card, which they found in pocket of her jacket. It hadn't been used in _three days_. Just as the team began to believe that they were at a dead end, one of the uniforms walked up to the team and told them that Sally Lincoln waiting in the conference room. The four of them looked at each other. Esposito gestured for Castle and Beckett to "go ahead and take this one", due to their lack of sleep the past night. They watched Castle and Beckett head into the small conference room where Sally was waiting for them.

Sighing, the boys made their way to Esposito's desk. "Didn't you have to wake up early when you were in the military?" Ryan asked curiously. "Well, yeah, but… I never said I liked it," This made Ryan smile and laugh a bit, which definitely lifted Esposito's spirits. Seeing his boyfriend happy was half the reason he told jokes all the time. The other reason: annoy Beckett. Win-win situation.

Meanwhile, Castle and Beckett had gone into the conference room and taken a seat with a puffy-eyed Sally Lincoln. "Hi, I'm Detective Beckett. This is Mr. Castle. We're gonna have to ask you a few questions about your roommate, Mary." Sally just nodded. "Had Mary been acting suspicious at all the past few days?" Beckett began.

Sally took a breath. "Not really… nothing except for the packages, no." she said. "The packages? What packages?" Castle inquired. "She had been getting packages for three days in row. One package a day. When I asked her what they were, she got all touchy and told me to buzz off. Now I know why." Beckett looked at Castle for a moment, and then turned her attention back to Sally. "Do you have any idea where she might have been before she was murdered?"

To their surprise, she nodded. "She told me before I left for dinner with my colleagues that she was gonna go talk to her boyfriend, Mitchell Larson." Beckett asked further. "Do you know where?" Sally just shook her head. "Thank you, Ms. Lincoln. I think we have all we need."

As soon as Lincoln had walked out of the room, Castle turned to Beckett. "I got it!" he said, looking at her with the look he only gets when he is about to spew a ridiculous theory yet again. "Oh no…" Beckett groaned. "EVIL UPS MAN!" Castle shouted. _'Why does he always have to do that?' _Beckett thought as the headed out of the conference room to tell Ryan and Esposito about the information they had just acquired.


	3. Bubbly

**AN: Again, please review! Believe me, this story's not even halfway (I think)!**

**Chapter 3: Bubbly**

Castle and Beckett came out of the conference room to the sight Ryan and Esposito holding hands at Esposito's desk. Castle and Beckett could only smile a little. Ryan had come to Castle and Beckett before he and Esposito were together to ask for help. He had asked them how to tell Esposito about his feelings. And since Castle and Beckett were just such GREAT friends, they had pulled Esposito over the next day when Ryan wasn't around and told him. Embarrassed Ryan half to death (maybe more), but it worked. So seeing them as a cute and bubbly couple was a daily reminder of a job well done. They hated to interrupt them, but they had a case to solve.

"Ryan! Esposito!" Beckett called, snapping the boys out of their 'bubbly couple' thing. "Sally had been receiving person. According to Sally's roommate, she received one package every day for three days. Also, Sally's roommate says Mary was last known to be with her boyfriend, Mitchel Larson. You guys bring him in while Castle and I go search her apartment for those packages." The boys nodded to Beckett and she walked towards the elevator with Castle right on her heels.

**- C -**

"Mary's dead?"

Ryan and Esposito now sat with Mitchel Larson in the precinct conference room.

"Wha- who did it?"

"We don't know," Ryan answered.

"You think I did it? No, no, no. I would never hurt Mary. I loved her, I really did."

"We don't have any serious suspects yet. It's just that you were the last one Mary was with, apart from her killer." Esposito explained.

"Yeah, she called me. She told me to meet her down at the park a few blocks away from her apartment at 7:00."

"Did she say why?"

"No, she just said she wanted to talk."

"And what did she say to you when you got there?"

Mitchel was silent.

"Mitchel, what did she say?" Ryan pressed.

"She said she thought something was after her. You know, from her job."

"Did she say what, exactly?"

"She said it was… a ghost."

Ryan and Esposito looked at each other. Great, another case where Castle could produce theory after theory about zombies, spirits, and monster and actually have them all be plausible.

"A… ghost?" Esposito tried again. Neither he nor Ryan could believe they had heard correctly.

"I know it sounds crazy, but that's what she told me!" Mitchel insisted.

"Okay, Mitchel. Calm down, we believe you," Ryan said. "But can you… elaborate, maybe?"

**- C -**

**MEANWHILE**

"Okay, Castle. Time to get to work. Let's check her room. Oh, and thank you again, Ms. Lincoln," Beckett said, nodding to Sally Lincoln, who had graciously let them in to her apartment to search for evidence.

"Of course. Her room is right down here," Sally replied, leading them down a narrow hallway towards the back of the apartment into a small, light blue room. "Let me know if you need anything," Sally said before she left the room.

After she was gone, Beckett immediately moved to the closet and opened it. She shifted through a while, and with an "Aha!" she pulled out three boxes from the closet. "Uhm, ok. Look for a shipping tag or something that we can track it with." She said, handing Castle one of the boxes.

The two looked over the packages one by one. "Nothing," Castle said.

"Nope. Nothing," Beckett confirmed. "Okay, let's open 'em up. Put on gloves," she said, handing Castle gloves and putting some on herself. She then picked up the first box. She ripped open the top. "What the…" Beckett said, looking in the box. Castle looked over, still struggling with the gloves.

"What?" he asked. Beckett replied by holding up the contents of the box: a single salt packet. Puzzled, Castle said, "Let's open the second one." Beckett picked up the second box and opened it.

"Uhh…" she said, as she held up a lighter.

After a brief look of curiosity at the lighter, Castle blurted, "I wonder what's in the third one!" He grabbed the third and final box. He ripped it open as Beckett carefully put the salt packet and the lighter in an evidence bag for analyzing.

"Ooh, a note!" Castle exclaimed, holding up a small slip of paper in his hand.

"Give me that!" Beckett said as she took the paper from him.

"What does it say?" Castle asked her. Beckett looked at him with one of her '_Seriously?'_ looks and began to read.

"Salt and fire

You may learn

Is all you need

To make a burn.

You may ask

How can this be?

But I ask you,

Remember me?"

Castle shivered. "That," he said, pointing to the note, "is terrifying."

Beckett nodded. "Let's check this stuff for prints. Then, we should call Ryan and Esposito." After they found the evidence bare of prints, they called the boys down at the precinct.

**BACK AT THE PRECINCT**

"But can you… elaborate, maybe?" Ryan asked. Mitchel had just taken a breath to speak but was interrupted by Esposito's ringtone playing through the conference room.

"Excuse us a minute, Mr. Larson," Esposito said, motioning for Ryan to follow him out of the room. "Yo," Esposito said, putting his phone on speaker and closing the conference room door.

"Hey guys. Castle and I found the packages." Beckett told them all about the salt, lighter, and note—note without many interjections from Castle—and that there were no prints on anything.

"Well, that's disappointing," Ryan said after Esposito hung up.

"Let's go back in," Esposito said, opening the conference room door for Ryan. Sitting back down on the couch, Ryan said, "Mr. Larson, just one more thing before you're free to go. How long did you two talk in the park?"

"About fifteen minutes," Mitchel answered.

"And where did you go after that?"

"The bar down the street. They know me there, you can check."

"We will. Thank you, Mr. Larson. You're free to go."


End file.
